Shadow Tournament
by Bakunawa
Summary: Futuristic AU. Many many years had passed. Ninjas, Hidden Villages, Demons were long since forgotten.. or so the World had thought.  The Shadows have commended, who will answer the call to be the greatest ninja of all?  Wanted: original characters
1. Prologue

i've been reading most especially SeenoEvil121's 'Pirates!'-a one piece fic-and was hooked. i only borrowed the idea of gathering OCs to make an epic Naruto fanfic. i do hope everyone can give support.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

* * *

**Shadow Tournament**

by: _Bakunawa_

Prologue

_

* * *

_

_So many years passed and the World has changed_

_A kitsune was only a folklore to the Regions of Fire_

_Shinobi-kind were only alive in legends_

_And the art of nin had been long dead_

* * *

It was raining. Tea Country was at the height of summer and it was practically pouring outside. A mercedes came speeding by the avenue, splashing grim water everywhere. She heard one of the diner employees exclaim loudly after seeing the windows covered in muck.

"Pathetic…" she whispered, sitting back on her wood-woven chair. From where she hailed it would barely rain, if not at all. On a typical day back in her native home, the sky had always been clear blue, the winds cool on the bare skin but the sun would beat unmercifully. But here, in the Peninsula of Trades, water was a wasted commodity. People here did not seem to appreciate what they have in abundance. They couldn't even properly drain rainwater from the streets, while there are areas in Wind where a bottle of water has the equivalent of gold.

The young dark-haired woman, dressed in a sleek professional grey suit, pondered over a steamy cup of hot chocolate. Her coat and umbrella were hanged on the backrest of another chair beside a briefcase was by her leather-bound feet. She was alone, obviously. But she was only waiting.

It was exactly 6:14 in the evening and about two dozen or so of other people had came in, though most intended to wait out for the rain. The little restaurant was a little too crowded for its small floor area. But the young woman in grey kept to herself in a corner table by the end as well as to her gloomy thoughts.

She was not one for rainy weathers, she could admit. If given the choice, she should have been sunbathing in some beach in Crescent Moon Island, sipping colorful fruit juices or maybe party with style in Otafuku Gai. Heck, she could have made half a million ryo out of gambling in Otafuku by now instead of waiting in this cramp diner in Tea.

"Excuse me. Do you happen to be Miss Kyara?"

"Yes." Was the woman's curt reply.

"Um… may I sit?"

"No."

"O-oh…" the awkward balding man was taken aback.

"Unless you have what I want in that metal case of yours," the woman added, smirking, "then you may sit, Mr. Miyamoto."

The man pulled out the wood-woven chair opposite hers with unsteady hands and proceeded to sit without so much as pulling off his soaking coat. He was a fidgety middle-aged man, round-faced, short and portly with thick round glasses. He held the appearance of an office worker who never grew out of his awkward puberty. Harmless.

"I am quite sorry for being la-"

"It doesn't matter, Mr. Miyamoto," the woman, only known by the name Kyara, smoothly cut him off with a wave of a delicately manicured hand, "what would you be ordering from the menu?"

"What?"

"The menu, Mr. Miyamoto." The woman pointed at a greasy laminated menu list on the table before the balding man.

"What for?" Miyamoto was staring at her as if she had just told him the truth about lip-gloss and moisturizers.

"To eat of course… Ahh, I think I'll have fish and fries."

He nearly jumped fifteen feet in the air when a pink-dressed waitress appeared out of nowhere with a pen and order slips in hand. "One fish and fries," the young blue-eyed waitress repeated, jotting it down, "any beverages?"

"Another hot chocolate and a glass of water would be fine."

"Chocolate. Water. And you sir?"

The poor man sputtered like a fish, looking back and forth from the woman sitting opposite him and the waitress. "W-water. Just water."

"I'll be in bit with your orders."

The young woman in grey smiled back sweetly as the waitress left before returning her golden eyes to the wet man in front of her. "Relax, Mr. Miyamoto. It would have done you good to have ordered something. Anyway, I asked for the item. Do you have it?"

"Of course. But don't you think this is the appropriate place to do this, miss?"

"Do we seem to have a problem?" A fine eyebrow arched up. The Kyara's golden eyes piercing with bored annoyance.

"No, no…" he held the metal case closer to his person, almost as if defending it from her gaze, "but it's too crowded in here. Shouldn't we proceed with the exchange on a different location?" He was looking around nervously. At that instant, the waitress returned with two glasses of water for each and an extra hot chocolate the young woman ordered. Miyamoto only looked at Miss Kyara, proving his point.

The woman chuckled, "Mr. Miyamoto, I assure you this is the safest place. People are blind amidst a crowd. And besides, for all they know, we are just business associates out for dinner."

The woman's eyes was on him, soft and tantalizing, yet keen on making him feel he had no other option but to agree with her logic.

"… Of course." But Miyamoto had not put his guard down. He knew this woman's lot. They are not the types who should be meddled with nor are they the type to be questioned unless you wish for a horrible death. Unfortunately for Nakato Miyamoto, he had been born under the most unlucky star.

His shoulders remained rigid as he carefully place his metal briefcase on the table and fumbled for a moment for the numerical combination on the mechanical lock. A soft click and it was opened.

He turned the case around, revealing to a golden-eyed woman a red scroll.

"May I?"

"I would not have the means to stop you even if I tried," he said weakly.

"So far, that is the most intelligible thing you've said, Mr. Miyamoto." Kyara took the scroll with both hands, turning it over and over before releasing the clasp. She unfurled the paper on the table.

"… It's blank." It was Miyamoto you spoke. He's face quickly turning as white as the paper the woman was inspecting.

"You sound… disappointed." But young woman's eyes never left the blank sheet. She was examining it much like an expert examining a diamond.

"But… shouldn't it be…"

Finally the Kyara lady looked up at him. "What's the matter?" and she looked genuinely confused by his behavior.

"The scroll is empty. Should it suppose to be that way?" Miyamoto was almost ready to run.

Kyara looked lovingly on the scroll, skimming a hand across the smooth surface. "it may seem so, Mr. Miyamoto. But there is one way of finding out if this is genuine."

The young woman brought her thumb to her lips and bit hard until she drew blood. The old balding man could only watch in quiet fear. "What are you doing?" he asked, "you're bleeding."

"Be honest, Mr. Miyamoto," Kyara asked, holding back her bleeding thumb, "what do you think will happen if we find out this scroll is a fake?"

The man hunched over, hands on the table edge and trembling. "Please… I d-don't want to die," he whispered, begging pathetically.

"Relax. I don't usually kill people out of cold-blood."

"If not you... then _he_ will."

Kyara looked solemnly at her left thumb for a moment before pressing it down on the blank scroll surface. "Then I do hope this is genuine," she said quietly, "for your sake."

She removed her thumb and the red stain of blood immediately seeped through the papyrus fabric until it was gone as if it had never been there. Both were silently waiting, one mildly curious while the other praying for his life.

A beat or two, Miyamota silently gasped. The bloodstain appeared again, seeping out where it was previously marked and spreading across the paper surface. It was like watching the paper bleed from an unknown wound. Fine tendrils of red began to form and an image appeared of the kanji 'shadow' on the palm of an outline of a left hand enclosed in a double circle of tiny undecipherable script.

"What is that?" the older man asked, befuddled.

"… _That_, Mr. Miyamoto," Kyara said breathlessly, smiling from ear to ear, "is your salvation and my ticket to witnessing the greatest entertainment of all. Tell me, have you heard of the Shadow Tournament?"

"Y-yes," Miyamoto answered, whispering as if uttering the words could summon the devil himself, "I've only heard from the others. I don't know if I heard them correctly. My… employer never explained. Is it a sort of underground... fight club competition…"

Kyara chuckled again, a lighter tone that was closer to a laugh. "Oh, you silly man. But it's a very close description than none and I assure you it's more than a little fight club. It will be the greatest show on earth!" She took out her thin silver phone and pressed for speed dial. "I have it. Make the transfer" she said to the other end and hung the call.

Not a moment too soon, Miyamoto's phone jingled to a cute little tune. A short text message 'cash received' appeared on the screen. He had never been so relieved in his life.

"Well, Mr. Miyamoto, I take it this transaction is over and done with," the woman said, rolling in the scroll and securing it inside her leather briefcase. "I will be taking the merchandise, as you have your payment. It has been a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Miyamoto. And I do hope we may not be meeting again under any circumstance."

Before he knew it, the golden-eyed woman in a sleek grey suit running by the name of Kyara, was out of the door, coat and umbrella in one hand and the briefcase on the other, and without so much as shaking hands with him as in accordance of proper business etiquette.

And balding Miyamoto was left dumbfounded, soaking the seat in his own wet coat with a plate of fish and fries, two glasses of water, an untouched cup of hot chocolate and the bill.

* * *

Kyara smoothly unlocked the hotel room 703 and slid quietly inside. It was dark in the swanky suite, the curtains all closed, save for the glowing laptop screen acting like a beacon at the far end of the room.

"Hotaru-chan? Are you here?" the woman called out as she reached for the light switch on the wall by the door. She practically jumped back three feet when the lights went on and she found her partner standing right next to her.

"Shit! What are you doing? Trying to kill me?" Kyara was beside herself, holding her case as if a shield against a tiny pale nine-year-old girl.

"What are you talking about? All I have to do is leave you for Time to kill since you're that old anyway."

The tall woman was suddenly towering over the girl. "And what is that suppose to mean? For your information, I'm only twice your actual age!"

The little girl only stared, pokerfaced. "Just give me the scroll."

With an annoyed huff, Kyara gave dropped the bag containing the item she bought earlier into the girl's diminutive outstretched hand. "You know, for someone who could barely reach my hip, you sure talk like I'm beneath you."

The little girl paid her no heed as she moved to the plush couch with the briefcase. Carefully pulling the red scroll out, Hotaru inspected the item's cover. "I remember…" she whispered with a scowl.

"It's real, I'm sure of it this time," called the dark-haired woman, pulling out a can of soda from the frig, "I did the blood smear and it showed the exact symbols like you showed me."

"I know…" Kyara's pale-haired partner was strangely solemn as she weighed the rolled papyrus scroll in her little hands.

Kyara broke the moment of silence with a noisy slurp of her grape-flavored carbonated beverage as she sauntered over to Hotaru. "Sooo…" she then said, looking over the little girl's shoulder as Hotaru rolled open the red scroll, "the next step in the plan is to get ourselves a team to enter the tournament."

"Genuine shinobi in the world today is one to a hundred thousand. They shouldn't be so hard for you to find," Hotaru said without taking her eyes away from the now empty paper, "and we still have at least a year to gather and train, so there's no pressure at all, is there?"

The older woman looked smug as she leaned forward on the backrest of the couch with her more-than-ample squashing Hotaru's head. "Actually, I'm so glad you mentioned that, Hotaru-chan," she said with false glee, trapping the tiny female in an embrace much to Hotaru's dismay, "because that's where your perfect chakra-sensing ability comes in _perfectly_."

"... I was afraid you'd say that."

* * *

Create your own character to be featured in the later installment of Shadow Tournament. Please follow the guidelines and post your characters as a review:

Name/alias and name meaning: (First and Last name order)

Age:

Gender:

Team position/specialization: (leader, support, medic, melee combatant, the sensei, what?)

Clan/bloodline: (canon or anime only) (optional)

Skills/jutsu/elemental affinity: (a list of ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu and other skills that your character has in his repertoire, whether original or canon. If you so ever wish to use any known martial arts—judo, kick-boxing and the likes—a list of detailed and descriptive techniques would really be appreciated. If you want to use an original form of combat, then please be descriptive.)

Arsenal: (equipments and weapons, be specific. If your character utilizes specialized weapons, be descriptive of its appearance and forms of attacks.)

Physical appearance: (again, be as descriptive as possible)

Characteristics/personality: (details of attitude and behavior including habits, mannerisms, quirks. What are the character's likes and dislikes. Way of speaking. Way of thinking. Anything that gives the character an identity uniquely his own.)

Background: (everybody has a history that shapes up who we are now)

Ninja way: (driving ambition, goals and dreams)

Others:

(remember: post your entries as **reviews**.)

* * *

_to be continued..._


	2. Shinozuka I

**Shadow Tournament **

by: _Bakunawa_

Shinozuka I

* * *

**Little Town of Green Peas **

**Hotaru**

Hotaru was not having the greatest day. She ate two sundaes, three donuts and a small cone of ice cream and still they did not improve her mood. And she could only blame the _princess_ for all her misery.

Immediately after buying the scroll, the two girls left the city and set out to find a team. Unfortunately, ninjas are even harder to find than needles in a haystack with your eyes blindfolded. One can not simply google them and expect real ninjas to just pop on the list. Ninety-nine percent would consist of ninja movies, actors who played ninja in a movie, ninja games, ninja cartoons, ninja motorcycle, ninja made up histories, ninja wanna-bes, ninja freebies and basically all ninja-crap. Hotaru did not even want to get started on Facebook.

In this age, shinobi simply do not exist anymore. The little number of what genuine articles were left would never have let themselves be found so easily. And that was Hotaru's problem. The only way one could possible acquire help from real shinobi was through means of association; you would have to know someone who knows ninjas to get to them. Hotaru lacked those connections as she is as green to this underworld as a new born rabbit.

It would have made her life a lot easier if they just wave bloody banners, saying 'I'M NINJA' in bold letters.

Kyara was no help either. She generally refuses to help. This would be their third town and Kyara-hime was out somewhere, enjoying shopping or whatnot, while she had to scout the entire area with her chakra-senses activated on the widest range she could possible muster. Hotaru truly hoped the older woman tripped over herself and land on mud face first.

Now it was almost evening and the little girl was exhausted. It took her half of the day of scavenging the town's only source of historical information—the library—and another half to roam the streets yet it only proved futile as the other two cities they had been to. And by tonight she'd be trying to hack the town's Registry Office for any clues. The sun was setting by the time Hotaru decided to turn in for the day. She was about to cross the street when the light post on the other side turned from green to red and the waiting vehicles took off.

"Marvelous…" she muttered as she stood at the edge of the sidewalk. Not too soon, other people were standing with her, waiting for the sign to change back to green.

_And somebody needed to take a shower,_ Hotaru mentally grumbled. She looked up to the person standing by her left. It was a tall dark-haired dark-eyed teenage boy, who had replaced his uniform shirt in favor of a plain white t-shirt, though he still kept his navy blue slacks. He had a bulging red sport-pack slung on one shoulder with a long piece of shoelace sticking out of it.

_The typical jock just got out of practice. No wonder I smell sweaty socks…_

"That kid!" somebody yelled from behind.

Hotaru was almost pushed off into the streets when the boy next to her took off. The teen was trying to save a little boy from a speeding motorbike.

_Is he stupid?_ Was the first thought that came to her mind.

Everyone had their breaths on hold as they could only watch in shock. The motorbike had only been a step away from the little boy's nose and yet the dark-haired teen was quick enough to grab him by the collar of his jacket to pull him out of the way.

Reacting late, the motorist swiveled out of control into the sidewalk. The tall boy took the kid into his arms as his momentum spun him around.

"Look out!" another voice cried over the others as another oncoming vehicle appeared. A blue civic came from the other side of the lane and the driver, who was texting to his wife, had not seen the commotion and had barely time to react when the tall teen appeared right in front of him.

The driver pedaled the brakes. Everyone screamed as the car skidded and the teen was thrown over on the hood of the car before it fully stopped. The mother of the child had dropped to her knees in horror and agony of watching.

And for a moment the air was silent—the calm before the storm. It was only for that brief moment before everybody immediately came in closer to the huddled form of the young man on top of the vehicle, whether to lend help or just see if he and the little boy were still alive. Hotaru was one of them.

"Oh my god…" Hotaru heard the driver got out of the car, "Oh my god, are you all right? jeezus!"

"Kota! Kota!" the mother was nearly hysterical as she clambered on the hood to pull her now wailing child.

The moment the woman touched the teen, he came about and pushed off of the car. The crying young boy was safely nestled on his chest. He handed him over and got off the car hood himself. Tears were streaming on her face as the mother was ever so thankful her boy was alive.

The young man was a little shaken on his feet. He had his palm over his left eye and his face was as pale as chalk.

"Are you hurt? What's wrong with your eye? My god, W-we need to get you to a hospital," the driver offered as he held the younger man up by the shoulders.

"No, I'm o-okay," the boy answered, "I just need to get home." Then he took off running, pushing people out of the way.

The driver and a few others tried to give chase but the dark-haired teen was too fast. He was gone.

* * *

It happened too quickly for anyone to register anything exactly but Hotaru's eyes had been trained to watch details at high speed. She saw exactly what happened and it intrigued her.

The boy was too quick for an average person. His reflexes were splendid. A normal person could not have caught that little boy on time, even how athletic he could be. And for the rest who thought the black-haired boy had been hit and landed on the car, they weren't looking closely enough. Hotaru, however, saw it all. They boy had jumped on the hood to save himself, landing on a perfect crouch with both feet firmly grounded. Another person would have been agile enough or quick enough to have done such a feat and would have had both legs shattered with a head on impact but the boy had been perfectly fine. He had even gone running afterwards like his life depended on it.

But what really caught Hotaru's interest—what really made her ran after him afterwards—had been his eye. Hotaru saw something, though only a glimpse of it. She had to make sure what it was herself and she had to know who the boy was.

* * *

**16th District, Green Peas**

The sun had already set and the sky was a twilight purple. He finally stopped running when he realized he was heading for the wrong direction. Home was on the other side and now he was somewhere in the better housing district of town. He guessed it would most likely take him until past dinner time to get home now. He leaned on a post to catch his breathe, adjusting his pack on his back. He was a bit surprise to realize he still carried the bag even after what happened earlier.

But what did happen earlier?

He was just trying to get the boy out of the way. Then he had the boy in his arms and for a moment he thought it was okay. The kid was fine and he was alive himself… And then the blue car just came out of nowhere.

He didn't even have time to think. He had just reacted; his body obeying the innate need for self-preservation. He had felt the very core of his being change. It started from the pit of his stomach and it spread like fire through every vein. His vision had changed by then as well.

By a strong beat of his heart, he and everything around had simply stopped. The car, the green traffic light blinking, the expression of the man behind the wheel, the air, the loud people—everything had just stopped. It had been like looking at two places at the same time yet it all was the same. It was as if a multi-colored piece of glass had covered one of his eye and the other was still perfectly fine. And on the next heartbeat, all followed afterwards. He felt the sudden rush of adrenalin, the speed, he felt like lightning himself.

He reached for his left eye but his hand froze halfway. While on top of the car with the boy, he saw his reflection on the smooth window. His left had been… different. Now he was afraid to even understand what happened to his left eye and he didn't have a mirror now to check if it was still his eye.

He turned to leave, rubbing his eyelid lightly. The sooner he got home, the better.

"What happened to your eye?" a little voice asked.

The boy took a surprised step back when he almost ran into a small girl, who stood barely above his waist. She was wearing a frilly lime green dress, with matching shoes, under a pink knitted cardigan that had little white flowers embroidered around the collar and sleeves. What set her odd was her short, smooth and strikingly silver hair and the red scarf she wrapped around her neck and the bottom portion of her face.

"H-hey, little girl…" he stammered, caught of guard, "There was just something on my eye…"

But the tiny girl, who could have been around the ages 8-10, was strangely gawking at him with drowsy wine-red eyes. The tall boy could not help but feel uneasy as the staring stretched out from beyond what was comfortable.

"Uhh, do you live around here?" he asked, looking around, "shouldn't you be home by now?"

"I don't live here," she answered plainly.

"Okay… are you lost?"

"No."

"You should go home," said the dark-haired teen, kneeling down on one knee to look at her levelly, "It's not safe for a little girl like you to be out at night."

The girl was silent, staring up and down at the older boy. Her eyebrows were turned down to a frown as he gave him a scrutinizing look.

"I-is there something wrong? Is there something on my face?" the boy rubbed his face self-consciously.

The girl shook her head but still continued eyeing him.

"Okay. So… what's your name?" asked the teen.

"Hotaru."

"Cute name. I'm Daisuke. Shinozuka Daisuke," the dark-haired teen beamed, "I should probably walk you home. Where do you live? Is it far?"

"I… I don't have a home," said the little silver-haired girl, still holding her eerie stare.

"What do you mean?" asked the boy named Daisuke, surprised.

The tiny girl shook her head slowly again.

"Are you sure you're not lost, Hotaru-chan? You're parents might be looking for you at this moment. They could be worried sick."

"I don't have parents."

Her words gave Daisuke a pause. He looked down solemnly as he sympathized for her. "I'm sorry…" he said quietly but the little girl just stared."How about you tell me where you came from, Hotaru-chan, and I'll take you home," the boy tried again.

"I told you, I don't have a home," said the girl, her voice deep-toned with irritation. For a moment, she did not sound like a little girl.

"But you must have somebody take care of you right?"

"I'm taking care of myself."

Daisuke hung his head, realizing he won't be getting anything out of her. "So you're saying you basically live by yourself?" he asked again, eyebrow quirked up.

Hotaru shrugged.

Daisuke got up with a huff. "I can't just possibly leave you here," he said, frowning at the silver-haired girl as he offered his hand, "come on. I know a person who might be able to help."

Hotaru looked at the offered hand and then to the boy's face. He was frowning but then she took his hand anyway.

"I'm going to take you to my place. There's an inspector living next to ours. He's a slob but he could help."

And he led her by the hand home.

* * *

_To be continued…_

_note: this chapter has been revamped as of July 4._


	3. Shinozuka II

**Shadow Tournament**

By: _Bakunawa_

Shinozuka II

* * *

**7th District, Green Peas**

**Daisuke**

It was already evening when Hotaru stepped out from the green and white-painted bus into the flickering rays of an old streetlamp. The fluorescent bulb was already darkened around the edges and it's blinking on and off gave an eerie sentiment to the area. They were in an older district where the houses stood very closely to each other. Some were new, or newly renovated, while others still had there ancient tiled roofs. Everything was like patchwork here.

The tall boy, Daisuke, came out of the bus as well. "My place is this way," he said, pointing further down the road to a corner cutting between two high-walled houses. The bus left and the duo went on their way down the poorly lighted street.

Daisuke stole a glance to the little girl by his side. She had been very quiet the entire time. Were other children would have been restless taking a bus ride, little Hotaru had simply sat still with her hands on her lap. She even stopped responding to his questions, replying with one-shouldered shrugs or hums. Now the girl was looking mildly curious around.

"It won't be far," said Daisuke, just to break the silence as they rounded the corner, "just another corner and we should see our building. My sisters should be home. Are you hungry?"

She looked up at him and said, "Yes." The first solid reaction he had since riding the bus. _Poor kid, she was probably wondering around for hours_. Daisuke thought.

"Then we should grab a bite before going to Enzo's," he smiled toothily, "you're gonna love Suki's cooking."

"Hn…" replied the little silver-haired girl, as if to say _'we'll see if your sister's that good.'_

And they fell silent again. At first, Daisuke entertained the reason that Hotaru was shy like most little girls would be around older boys. Daisuke had his fair share of shy girls and they would often be so cute when teased. But this little girl simply did not like talking entirely and it bothered him. He could usually easily charm any female, young or old, but that magic seems to fail on her. Was he loosing his touch?

* * *

**Block 11, Arisawa Apartments**

**Shinozuka Siblings and Hotaru**

The tall boy named Daisuke was as annoying as Kyara on a sugar-rushed shopping spree. He had been asking her all sorts of questions like her surname, her parents' names, what school she went, any information that could help him figure who the burgundy-eyed silver-haired girl really was. Hotaru couldn't simply admit certain things. So instead, she played dumb without answering any of his inquiries. Now he was leading her inside his apartment building so that he could feed her and impress her with her sister's cooking before they look for this man named Enzo. Why? He had it in his head that she was some unfortunate little girl who could not find her way home.

_Idiot_.

The two-storey apartment building was old; the roof was a hodgepodge of metal and tiles and the walls were dry and cracked. It was squashed between two other taller buildings that it almost seemed swallowed by them. There were three doors and three narrow windows for each floor. Daisuke led the little girl through a narrow metal gate that immediately led to an even narrower staircase to the upper floor. Hotaru followed closely behind as they reached the first door immediately after the landing. Everything seemed so tight in this place that Hotaru almost felt claustrophobic.

Daisuke fumbled in his slacks' pockets for the keys but before he could pull them out, the door abruptly opened with a dark-haired frowning young woman in an over-sized grey t-shirt standing behind it.

"E-Emi… How'd you know I was even coming in?" Daisuke asked, flustered.

But the messy-haired lady, who must have just gotten out of bed, was looking at Hotaru unabashed. A fine eyebrow quirked up as her intense gaze went back to Daisuke.

"Hotaru-chan, this is my older sister Emi," Daisuke introduced, "Sis, this is Hotaru."

"Bringing a girl home, Daisuke?" the young woman spoke, her voice deeper than the average female, "If she's not your girlfriend, might as well be your child, eh?"

Daisuke's eyes popped out as large as saucers and his jaw almost snapped off. "What are you talking about? I'm only fifteen! You think I might have done something like that at five? You're sick!"

"Things could happen," the older sister shrugged.

"You have the worst sense of humor, Emi. She's just a lost little girl I found on the streets and I was just trying to help her get back home." The boy, who was at least as tall as her older sister, made way to enter but Emi blocked him.

"Lost, huh?" Emi said, looking down at the silver-haired one. Hotaru stared right back with a bored expression.

"Yes. I plan on talking to Enzo later about it. He owes us anyway. So can you let us in now? I'm starving."

"You idiot," Emi hissed, still holding the entrance, "You could have just took her to the station and left her in their care. Why did you have to bring somebody else's kid _here,_ of all places?"

Daisuke was taken aback by his sister's reaction. "What's wrong with that?"

"You're don't think with your head," Emi's tone was cold and evenly cruel; "You can't bring home strays just because you think you could help them out. You're even worse than Suki. At least she brings animals we won't be accused of kidnapping." She didn't shout or show any anger in her voice or face, but she drove her thoughts out like a stabbing knife.

Hotaru was beginning to like the frowning lady even more. Now she knew where the sensibility miht have all went in this family.

"K-kidnapping?" Daisuke parroted in shock, "I didn't kidnap anybody!"

Both Emi's and Hotaru's eyes rolled at his denseness.

"Is that Daisuke?" another voice was heard from within the apartment.

Emi immediately moved out of the entrance way, walked further in to the den like a dark-haired miasma, when another black-haired girl emerged. The younger girl appeared to be around Daisuke's age but looked almost exactly like her older sister, if Emi smiled more often. She was shorter than her two siblings and was currently wearing a flowery apron over a school uniform. Hotaru opted this was the "Suki" Daisuke mentioned earlier.

"Hey, Dai, just in time," she spoke cheerily as she placed a plate of dish on the small dinner table, "I had just finished the pe…" she paused as she had just noticed the little silver-haired girl walk in with her brother.

"Hel-lo~" she greeted in a sing-song tone, "and who might this be?"

"Daisuke's _pet_, apparently," Emi spoke out loud, taking her seat at the head of the table.

Now it was Hotaru's eyebrow's turn to arch up. "Pet…?" she mumbled. The woman's name just went down ten notches on her list.

"Her _name_ is Hotaru," Daisuke scoffed, throwing his pack on he couch unceremoniously, "she's lost and she doesn't have parents to go home to."

Emi's hand stopped midway of reaching for the rice cooker. Her ebony eyes, so exactly the same as her younger siblings, darted to the shortest person in the house. Her face remained the same, a blank sheet, but it was her eyes that spoke volumes. "Now, apparently, we're an orphanage…" she muttered to herself, continuing her previous action of filing her bowl with rice.

Suki took of her apron and place it on a hook on the wall before going to their little guest. She bent over to look at Hotaru level. "Hi Hotaru-chan. I'm Suki," she smiled beatifically as she offered a handshake. Hotaru took it without hesitance. "Nice to meet you," Suki added, "Want to eat with us first? You must be hungry by now."

Hotaru was indeed hungry and she did not need to be invited again to accept free food. Her mouth had been practically watering since Emi opened to door and the wafted smell of good food filled her senses. She nodded her silver little head at Suki who only smiled even more.

"Come on. Before the food gets cold." Emi said grumpily from her side of the table.

"Let me take your scarf for you, okay?" the younger Shinozuka girl help remove the long red scarf wrapped securely around the little one neck and face.

Daisuke had been wondering ever since he met Hotaru of that scarf. Why use one when it wasn't even _that_ cold? It was practically summer now. But he had dismissed it as just one of the little girl's oddities that was not worth bothering with.

The boy took his place beside her eldest sister. He gave her a dark look before taking a bowl of rice Emi already filled for him. Emi simply continued with her meal.

"I did not kidnap her," Daisuke said under his breath. He could not simply let go of what she said early. "and what motive would I have from kidnapping someone I've never met before?"

"You don't get the point, Daisuke," Emi muttered back, "from another's point of view, picking up children from the streets can be mistaken for kidnapping. Don't you recognize the type of clothing she's wearing? She looks like a business tycoon's brat as it is."

Daisuke was about to open his mouth in retort, when Emi added another thought. "And you can't just go on about believing what little children would say. She might have run away from home or something and parents can so easily blame other people even if they knew it was their kid's fault."

"Wow, where do you get all of these? From watching CSI…" Daisuke regarded his older sister with a blank stare. "And you know, more often that not, thinkers are also doers. Who knows what you might be doing with your so-called 'night job'—ow! You evil woman!"

Emi only rolled her eyes as her little brother's massaged his wounded leg. If she had been using a fork, it would have been a better stabbing weapon.

The eldest's attention then went to her other younger sibling. Suki was still over their guest. Her back was to them and she was standing with the red scarf in her hands. "Suki?" Emi called out to her. But the younger sister did not respond.

"Suki, you okay?" Daisuke called out to her as well, still recovering from his injury.

This time Suki replied with a loud squeal, "ohmygosh, youaresocute! Daisuke where did you find her?" The youngest Shinozuka swept her arms around a little bundle of silver-hair and lime-green dress and brought it with her over to the table.

Suki was flushed pink on the cheeks and her eyes were wide with a maniacal glee. The only other instances that Daisuke knew his sister would ever become a rabid loon of girlishness were when there was a shopping sale at the mall or when she found something she was going to be obsessed about for a very long time. "Look at this face…" she said breathlessly, holding up their guest in her arms as if Hotaru was a baby."Will you just look at this face? Isn't this the cutest little doll's face you've ever seen?"

Daisuke decided it was the latter and he feared he might not hear the end of it.

Hotaru recovered from being joggled over from her position by the door to the table in 0.80 seconds flat. She pulled her head away from Suki's shoulder and looked at the other two occupants of the house. Daisuke felt his own cheeks flaming a bit as he looked at the face that had been hidden beneath the red scarf all that time.

She had a pert little nose, lips as pink as roses, and soft rounded cheeks that were meant to be pinched with their cuteness. Her droopy eyes only made her more 'kawaii' appealing, giving her a lovable look of a child who just woke up from a beautiful sleep. Little Hotaru gave another definition to words like 'adorable', 'cherubic' and 'lolicon'.

"Can we keep her? Can we please?" Suki finally said after a very long silence from her two older siblings.

Emi cleared her throat before saying, "Of course we _can't_. Now put her down and let her eat." There was too much emphasis on the word 'can't' that it sounded like a protest and Daisuke was pretty sure she had been blushing around the ears as well.

* * *

**Apartment #4**

**Hotaru**

The Shinozuka Family, as Hotaru gathered courtesy of a very talkative Suki, consisted only of the siblings. Emi was the eldest, of course, while Diasuke and Suki were actually twins, the latter only younger by at least five minutes. Emi worked the graveyard shift as a well-known fast food restaurant and had only just woken up for yet another eight-hour shift later that evening, hence her disheveled appearance. She had been the twins' guardian since the death of both parents and had been working several jobs since she was fourteen. She never got to finish high school unfortunately, though that did not stop her from raising both younger siblings on her own.

The apartment room they considered their home was a little too small to accommodate three people but that did not stop the Shinozuka from treating the place like home either. There was only one bedroom that all three shared and an even smaller bathroom. An old deformed sofa was by the entrance door along with an older television on top of a bookshelf beside adjacent to it. Several framed pictures were hanging on the wall above the television and a few of them were that of a couple closely resembling the children. A few steps farther and you'll immediately meet the dining area-cum-kitchen that was Suki's domain.

Suki's skills in the kitchen had been splendid as Daisuke previously attested to. The peppered chicken was an absolute delight that Hotaru could not help but ask for another serving. The youngest Shinozuka had been all but thrilled to fill another cup of rice for her. "You're so tiny, I could just stuff you up," Suki said giddily.

"Please, Suki, we don't want her dead," Daisuke commented.

"Yeah, he still has a ransom to take. So no over-indulging the hostage," Emi added her own biting remark as she took another glass of juice.

"Will you stop that already?" Daisuke was flustered.

"It's better than being accused of pedophilia."

The only male sibling's face almost exploded in shock. "W-what kind of dirty mind do you have? That's disgusting!"

Suki had had her hands covering Hotaru's ears. "I'm sorry," she whispered to the little girl, herself uneasy at how her older sister was acting, "That's just how they show their love for each other. Do you have sisters or brothers too?"

Hotaru only shook her head, negative. Suki only smiled sadly. She couldn't really begin how to show her empathies, only that she did understand how it felt to lose both parents at such a young age. She hugged the cutest little girl tightly and whispered, "Tell you what… you can call me Big Sister and you can be my Little Sister. Would you like that?"

Hotaru only stared with her uncannily wine-red eyes. What was going through her mind was, _'What is this girl blabbering about?'_ As normal as this unfortunate family seem, Hotaru felt awkward being in their midst. She felt the urge to just get the hell out of the place.

"I never had a little sister, being the youngest myself," Suki continued happily, "Think we'll have a great time. So you'll be my Little Sister, won't you, Hotaru-chan?" She was practically begging with her eyes wide and doe-like.

Hotaru gave her a vague answer in a form of a shrug that the pretty ever-smiling girl took as a 'yes'. Suki squealed again and hugged the little girl with all the love she could give to a new baby sister. Hotaru only accepted the embrace without reaction.

"Suki, quit smothering the child," sighed Emi, looking pointedly at the youngest twin, "And we're not adopting, just so you know."

* * *

**Hotaru and Kyara**

She retreated to the bathroom too quickly than she would have liked. She closed the door not too subtly and practically locked herself in.

_That Suki girl is crazy!_ Hotaru's spine tingled with awkward humiliation. The youngest Shinozuka simply would not let go of her and even _insisted_ with offering assistance when Hotaru excused herself to take a twinkie.

"Aren'cha the cutest little thing in the planet—"

"Shut it," Hotaru hissed, "I've never been so harassed in my entire life." She brought her hands together, combining a short series of hand seals to create a sounding-proofing jutsu within the small confines of the tiny bathroom.

"Could have been fooling me," Kyara said as she lounged herself inside the white metal tube with her killer-stiletto heels propped up. "I thought you were working your ass out, hunting across the entire city. I was like beginning to worry my beautiful hair out when you didn't come back to the hotel after sundown. I went out to find you but all this time... you've been enjoying a quiet family evening dinner. Isn't that sweet?"

"It's not what you think." Hotaru rolled her eyes royally.

"Do enlighten, please," Kyara asked with on fine eyebrow arched up, "because I never thought of you as a sentimental type."

"It's the boy—"

"No way!" Kyara gasped loudly, interrupting. And if it weren't for the jutsu Hotaru set up, the Shinozuka would have been banging the door by then. "By golly, Hotaru-chan has her first crush already?" the golden-eyed woman was squealing inside the tub, "This is so sweet! And you even followed him all the way home~"

"Will you act your age for once?" Hotaru scoffed, crossing her arms over her flat-chest.

"Only if you act like yours," rebutted Kyara, crossing her arms as well. Her chest bouncing beautifully.

"The boy has latent ninja potential," Hotaru said with a frown, "I saw him save a child earlier from a vehicular mishap with astounding quick-time reactions. His charka levels are above-average—you can attest to it right now, can't you? Only problem is that he has next to zero shinobi training, aside from sports activities that he seems to be so dedicated to."

"Quick-time reactions and above-average charka levels goes with every other normal person in the planet. And like you said, he has no special training so what are you wasting your time here for?"

"There's something else…" the little girl looked away, uncertain on what to say next.

Kyara waited and curious as well. "Like…?" she asked after the long pause.

Hotaru looked into her eyes—red meeting amber. "There was something… different that happened when he saved that kid," the silver-haired little girl said, really unsure.

"Like…?" Kyara repeated.

"I don't think I've encounter the surname Shinozuka on the archives before. Not on the doujutsu list anyway."

"Of course!" Kyara threw her arms up, impatient, "The _holy_ Ninja Archives is pretty messed up, if you haven't noticed yet. And why a nine-year-old such as you would even bother, I would never understand… but anyway, you were actually getting to telling me what was so special about this boy—what's his name again? Dino, Daichi…?"

"Daisuke."

Kyara snapped her finger impatiently, preferring to cut to the chase. "Daisuke, right. And you were saying what with a doujutsu?" she was interested.

"I saw his left eye turn red when he saved the kid from a car."

Kyara blinked a few times and seemed in thought for a moment.

"It was only for a fleeting moment," Hotaru continued as the older woman was silent; "I didn't even get a good look at it."

The older kunoichi looked at her straight in the eye, asking, "You know that there are a lot of bloodline inheritances concerning with red eyes. And most especially those that are activated only in times of great peril to the bearer, right?"

"Of course."

The woman slowly smiled a mischievous smile.

* * *

**Daisuke**

He had been knocking several times on Enzo's apartment door but still answer. The flaking door was locked and the key was hidden in the broken pot right next to it, just as their neighbor would leave it whenever he went out. It was either totally drunk inside or he went out to buy more booze or his vacation leave was already used up and now he was back at the station failing miserable to stay awake. Either way, it seemed that he won't be helping them tonight.

"I should have just gone directly to the station with Hotaru-chan," he sighed, resigned as he went back to his own apartment door. Now he was beginning to worry about what Emi had said earlier about kidnapping and pedophilia. The thought of the latter made him want to puke then and there… if not for the horrified screams and an explosion erupting from his home.

"Suki! Emi!" the dark-haired boy coughed and stumbled to get inside their now smoke-filled abode. The door had been flung open and the windows were broken by the blast. "guys? Where are you?" Daisuke called again for his sisters. But everything was so dark and the smoke was stinging his eyes. He stumbled around pieces of furniture, his hand reaching out into the darkness, calling for his sisters. He heard another scream, recognizing it now as Suki's. It came strangely from outside.

"Suki!" he yelled again, running out and almost throwing himself over the railings with high hopes that his sisters were just below standing safe and sound.

But instead he was met with a sight of his family tied up by thick ropes and dangling precariously under electric wires across the street and the only thing preventing them from falling nine feet down was the hand of a woman wearing a skimpy sparkling black dress and stiletto boots standing on said electric wires.

"D-Daisuke…" Suki's voice was trembling. Her face was wet with tears while Emi was quiet and still, seemingly knocked out unconscious.

"Daisuke Shinozuka, lovely to meet you," the woman was smiling sweetly at him while holding his sisters by the end of the rope as if they weigh nothing more than paper and she was not standing on cable wires. The dark-eyed boy could only stare wide-eyed and unable to speak.

"Please, don't gawp like that. You're making me blush," Kyara giggled, coyly hiding her smile behind her free hand and batting her lashes.

Truth be told, Daisuke would have really believed that he was dreaming a beautiful dream. The hottest bad-ass woman was right in front of him where he could practically see her panties. And she was standing on cable wires. Only problem with this dream was that it had his sisters in mortal danger. This was a nightmare.

"W-who are you? What do you want?" finally, Daisuke had managed to ask breathlessly.

"I never thought you'd ask. Call me Kyara and if you want your sisters back," the woman's smile turned sweetly malicious, "You better be quick on your feet, pretty boy."

The woman then suddenly hoisted the bonded girls onto her back and took off. Daisuke was simply too shocked to properly react. He watched as this Kyara literally took off like a bird into the night sky, bounding several meters into the air and then landing on somebody's rooftop and freely jumping up again.

_This has to be a dream_, he reasoned. How can somebody bound up and down like they have springs on their legs? Did that woman have wirings attached to her that he had not noticed? It was impossible!

Daisuke snapped out of his daze and quickly dashed out, stumbling like mad downstairs to catch up with that woman and his sisters.

* * *

**Hotaru**

The smoke and the darkness immediately vanished as soon as Daisuke was out on the streets and out of sight like turning on the light in a dark room. The mess—broken tables, shattered glass, charred wood—all gone like no explosion ever happened. And the entire time Hotaru had been watching the boy intently from the doorway of the Shinozuka apartment.

She fixed her red scarf around her face securely and walked out, closing the door behind her quietly. Going downstairs, the little girl peered at the window of one of the tenants—the woman and her child were still out cold with their heads resting on their dinner table. Everyone in the complex were asleep because of that simple dozing jutsu, which soon lifted as the soon as Hotaru left to follow the boy.

Hotaru knew Kyara had a plan but what it was she never told her younger partner. The impulsive woman simply went out of the bathroom like a lunatic, surprising the two Shinozuka sisters. The older kunoichi then proceeded placing the sleeping spell on everyone in the area except for the boy Daisuke.

What they did not expect was the youngest girl resisting the Temple of Nirvana technique like natural born genjutsu-user. Emi was knocked out immediately but Suki screamed when Kyara tried to tie her up. Hotaru, on the other hand, had enough presence of mind to sense the boy's approach and immediately create a diversion. If Kyara predicted exactly what Hotaru was going to do in that situation or it was by pure dumb luck that the silver-hair little kunoichi just the perfect kind of genjutsu, the older woman just seemed smugged about it like it was all according to her plan.

* * *

_To be continued..._

_note: i've pulled out the first few chapters for revisioning so you may be reading the same thing. :)_


	4. Shinozuka III

**Shadow Tournament**

_by: Bakunawa_

Shinozuka III

* * *

******28th District, Green Peas**

**Kyara and Daisuke**

Just let the kid tag behind—don't get too far ahead that he might lose you but don't get too close that he might catch you as well. But at one point or two, just for the fun of it, Kyara made to let him catch her and only to disappear in thin air. The boy's face had been hilarious when instead of snatching her, he ran into a solid wall! Just hilarious! Patrons of nearby shops had stared at him as if he was a mad, even more as he had started screaming at her direction. He had no idea she was invisible all that time and Kyara almost felt pity for him… or maybe not. He was fun to play with.

But it had been going on for over well an hour of running around the humble city now. She had been over rooftops, skipped through the shopping district, zigzagged her way around the market place carrying now two unconscious bound and gagged up girls on her back like they weighed nothing more than a pound. People—restless of their business and their own little world—are so oblivious and so caught up in their own mindlessness that Kyara found them ridiculous at times.

That was the fundamentals of this particular invisibility genjustu she was currently under. It did not make you entirely insubstantial to sight; the technique basically turns or tunes people's attention away from the user and fortifies it strongly. So even if a person was staring right at you but his brain was thinking of something else other than the user's person being in front of him, they wouldn't see hair nor hide.

The only person that was looking up though was the boy and he was relentless in his chase. There had been times too that she really thought he would catch up with her. She could not deny that he was athletically built for long endurance running. Even for a fifteen-year-old, Kyara figured he had it in him to try for triathlons. It would seem that he doesn't fatigue at all. What was the purpose of this chase when you can't even slow him down?

It was fun while it lasted but after the first forty minutes, it was just dragging. The boy was not slowing down. He was determined to rescue his sisters and she was getting impatient. It was time for a change in plan.

They were past the center of the town, away from the shopping section and now they were somewhere he had never even thought existed in the quaint town of Green Peas. People were fewer in numbers around these places. The streets were darker, wetter and rocky. And more noticeable everything was in a state of shambles. He was stumbling into potholes more often than he would like and there was barely any light to illuminate his way. There were more dirty wooden shacks in place of concrete buildings that housed people.

Daisuke could practically feel Negligence in the air. This was the seedier part of town.

The woman took off to the roofs again. Not only could the woman run in stilettos—and she was freakishly fast—but she could also bolt like a bird to the skies, just number 6 on his growing list of reasons to believe that he was going out of his mind.

His legs were screaming at him. His lungs were screaming 'stop!'. He _had_ been screaming for the lady to stop and all he got were people screaming back at him like _he_ was some lunatic.

What was going on? Didn't they see her carrying two bodies that looked dead behind her back? And she was running around in the most impractical running shoes ever created by man and nobody seemed to be taking notice save for him.

Maybe it was him. Maybe he really _was_ out of his mind!

The lady suddenly halted, landing on top of what seemed to be a dilapidated building and far too graceful and too quietly for someone who had just jumped 20 feet up in the air. From below, Daisuke could barely see his sister's dark heads against the inky sky from. They did not move for only a moment but not until they disappeared entirely.

Daisuke hastily made a turn around an alley, behind the two-storey building, where he guessed the woman can land if she ever did try one of her stunts. The sharp turn on wet concrete almost made him slip again. With a rude word from his mouth, he quickly and awkwardly caught himself before he landed on dog poop.

Nothing. It was a dead end. Nothing but a solid concrete wall.

_'Where did they go?' _he panicked. He can't lose them.

"Hey, sweet stuff! Up here!" Daisuke looked up. The woman was standing on a gritty metal fire escape on the side of the building with his sisters dangling between her fingers over the railing. "you know, I have to admit that I should not have taken you on with this chase. You've giving me a hell of a workout. Were did you find that stamina?" she winked suggestively.

Daisuke gave her an incredulously confused stare. If he understood what she was implying, it did not really show or he did not care. "Look. As beautiful as you are, lady," he said, panting still,"I don't know you… or _what_ you are. All I want is for you to hand over my sisters please. We didn't do anything to you."

"'W_hat I am?'_" the woman placed a hand on her hip, looking a little slighted, though not hurt; "Don't you know already? I thought the media already gave us away too much that anybody could just tell we're ninjas."

"Ninjas?"

"Oh, honey, do I have to wear all black, have my gorgeous face covered in black cloth and swing a sword around to give the message out? Yes, ninjas exist and I'm already proof of that. I know you know you don't see little ladies doing things like what I could do everyday."

"Well, honestly… I don't care," Daisuke shook his head, smiling despite himself and really not trying to believe anything, "I'm might just be going crazy right now. But that doesn't matter. Just don't do anything to my sisters."

"Aw, come on. You're no fun," she pouted cutely.

Daisuke chuckled to himself. Why was he even having this conversation in the first place? This woman might not even be real and just a figure of his delirious mind. That explosion in the apartment earlier must have knocked him out and he must be dying, suffocating under all the smoke and ashes as his mind raced with this insane dream.

"Wanna see a neat trick?" the woman suddenly said running off tangent.

Daisuke could not have taken his eyes away from the sight of the woman even if he wanted to. Kyara gracefully swung her leg over the railing and planted her heeled foot on the wall, then came the other foot. Before Daisuke's brain could register what he was seeing, the long-legged woman was already walking along the side of the building horizontally and without assistance.

"Cool huh?" Kyara was giddy like a child showing off what she could do, a wide grin on her face. "Are you liking the view?" she giggled, jiggling her torso and making her bountiful cleavage bounce. She knew her angle from above the boy and gravity made them a lot bigger than they are already.

Daisuke made a weak sound behind his throat. He knew faintly that his mouth was hanging wide open.

"Oh, are we speechless now? I thought you didn't care?"

"Ho-how the hell…? How did you do that?"

"Ninja skills," she simply answered as if it was the most obvious thing.

He was gapping like a fish now and breathing harder like one out of water too. What was he suppose to think now? This is a whole new level of insane!

"Wanna see another cool trick?" something metallic glinted between her fingers.

He barely had time to react and duck when the blade was sent sailing, intending to pin his head into the wall behind him. The steal lodged itself on the concrete with an audible clunk.

"What are you trying to do?" Daisuke yelled, fearful.

"Hmmm, that was good," she said, tilting her head to the side as if she had just discovered something cute and interesting. "What about this then?"

Three more dark metal blades were thrown at him and he each dodged them, though none too easily. The woman had a good throwing arm and a killer aim for sure. Daisuke distantly thought she would have given a professional pitcher a run for his money. He barely escaped the first one with his face still in one piece. The second one was for his right shoulder; he quickly twisted around to avoid it.

"Holy…" Daisuke exhaled weakly after the last knife uncomfortably stuck itself between his parted legs. "Geez lady, what did I ever do to you? I don't care if you're a freaking ninja or an alien from mars just give me my sisters back!"

"Aliens? Gee, am I green and short? You ought to work on your imagination," the woman tapped her temple. Eri and Suki still remained gagged and unconscious through the whole ordeal. "And the name's Kyara, sweetie. I don't want to be called anything else," she added.

"You would have to forgive me, Kyara-san, but a moment ago I didn't believe people could defy gravity."

She was smiling too maliciously now. Her ruby lips stretching out almost sadistically that made Daisuke's spine shiver. "Let's not run around the bush anymore… Let's go straight for the berries. Meet me inside," she jerked her head to the side indicating the building. "If you can take the heat, you might just have your sisters back. And in one piece. See ya, honey." She blew him a kiss before hoisting the unconscious girls again and disappeared in a puff of thick smoke all together.

* * *

He pulled the blade out of the ground between his feet. He examined the metal in his hands. It was heavy and made of a dull-black colored material but the edge was sharpened to microscopic thinness that it cut the skin of his finger by just a light touch. The blade itself was broad, triangular and flat. Its handle was wrapped in rubber strip and had a ring on the pommel.

Come to think of it, it looked quite similar to a trowel. It was an odd kind of weapon but don't ninja's use the oddest kind of weaponry? It would fit perfectly with the woman's claim of being a ninja. All she really needed now was a big green turtle shell on her back and she should be good to go.

What do they call these weapons again? He would have to ask Tamaki sometime tomorrow. His fanatical friend knew all of those stuffs.

Daisuke's face scrunched up to a deeper frown. He really did not know what to think of all of this. Maybe he should just drop it and leave. Maybe he might come back home and find Suki and Emi there waiting for him.

"Dammit…" he cursed under his breath. He normally did not have such a 'potty mouth', as Suki would bash him senseless whenever she hears those words from him. He'd better go and rescue them soon or God knows what will happen to them.

Using an overfilled bent trash bin, he launched himself up the wall and slammed the blade into the wall with all his force could muster. He used the blade for leverage to reach an open window. It was the only entrance he could find; every door and windows were either locked or nailed tight with wooden boards. One hand reached for the windowsill and using the blade's handle now for a foothold, he hoisted himself awkwardly up the window. Dust, dirt and those unspeakable things met him face on as Daisuke rolled his way inside the building. His once white shirt was half covered in grim.

He picked himself up and dusted away the dirt on his pants and arms. "This is so not the day I was hoping it was…" he sighed morosely to himself. He should have known when he accidentally bumped his elbow on the doorframe on the way out this morning that it would all turn for the worse.

The room was dark. Light was barely coming in through the window. There were streams of faint light coming through holes from the wall but everything else was dark.

Daisuke walked farther inside, his hand in front of him. He needed his eyes to adjust first in the dark. "Ow!" he yelped. His hip bumped into something hard. From the feel of it, it was a desk. He moved the other way and his leg bump similarly to something.

He heard a sweet chuckling from the far end of the room. "Clumsy much?"

Suddenly the lights came up. For a moment Daisuke was blinded but he recovered a second later. With the lights now up, he could see that he was in an abandoned office of some sort. Old bent wooden desks and broken chairs were pushed against the wall and covered by plastic or clothe. A few rusting file cabinets, some missing there drawers, were found here and there. The center was cleared out, save for the dust, junk and animal dirt.

The dark-haired woman was already across from him, idly stretching her limbs up over her head. Her bosom squeezing up, forming a perfectly sexy pose that Daisuke could not help but appreciate.

His sisters, Emi and Suki, were placed down on the floor at a corner. They were still bound but they were put to be comfortable side by side. Suki's head was lying against her older sister's shoulder. At least Kyara was considerate enough.

"Sorry. I don't often climb up walls was like you do," he replied, smiling almost flirtatiously.

Kyara's smile tuned down a little and she was looking at him with interest. "You know… you're a curious little thing."

"Why is that?" he casually moved a step closer to where his sister's were.

"I don't know really," she placed a fine finger on her chin. "There's something about you. I can't put a right word to it… You… you seem different than most."

"What do you mean?" He already took another small step closer.

"Oh, I don't know how to say this. But you seem a little too… _calm_ about everything right now. Are you sure you haven't met a shinobi in you life before?"

The young man shrugged, "Never."

Kyara gave him a considering stare. He could see… no, practically feel her golden eyes heavily upon him, as if trying to peel all his layers and trying to see past the physical. It was almost suffocating. It was odd but he suddenly felt like there was a dead weight hanging over his shoulders. Like the air itself was as heavy as lead.

"Okay," she answered finally, beaming a hundred megawatt. Her expression quickly turned brightly as she took everything in face value. "Let's begin your education then," she said all too cheerfully, another blade was drawn out.

The invisible heaviness weighing upon Daisuke—whether it be fatigue or something else entirely—increased twofold. "What are you planning to do?" he asked, falling back defensively, "You say I'm strange but in fact you're the one who's acting without sense here." The boy held his fists ready down with a familiar martial arts stance. He did have judo and karate training before but between him and her, Kyara had the advantage of a deadly weapon. "I really don't fight women, Kyara-san."

"Well, you have no choice either way." And then she lunged at him, blade slashing out.

Daisuke sidestepped away but before he could even plant his foot down, the woman was at him again. The trowel-blade ripped the side of his shirt. He only felt the whoosh of the blade and fabric ripping but no blood or pain. His skin was spared by mere inches. This woman was seriously trying to kill him!

Only a second for distraction when suddenly Kyara pirouetted and her long leg slammed his head down. He felt himself fall down hard, right ear ringing and pain bloomed at the side of his face where the woman kicked him.

Daisuke took a moment to breathe. He pulled himself on all fours weakly. That one kick felt like he had been assaulted by a bull or maybe a speeding tractor. He literally felt his brain jarring inside his skull.

"Now, honey, you better listen carefully. I'll only be giving you a crash course of how it is to be ninja."

Daisuke looked up but she was gone. Emi and Suki were still at their corner, unconscious. The young man got to his feet, his senses were on high alert but he could not find the tall woman anywhere. Did she leave the room entirely? He swiveled around, searching. There were a few places under desks or behind cabinets but it made no sense why would she hide now. Where could she have possibly hidden herself?

"First basic thing you have to learn about ninjas is that they hide themselves." He heard her voice again. Where was she? He heard her as if she was just there beside him but she wasn't. "Real ninjas don't necessarily need shadows to give them cover. We're so good that we could be standing in front of you… and you won't even have a clue."

He felt something warm breathing down on his neck. He flinched out of the way but then some invisible force hit him from behind and sent him tumbling down again.

"Everything about us," she continued, "everything that is of ninja… the person, the talent, the actions, the very life of ninja… everything is about concealment. History was never history because of us. We keep all well hidden."

He heard the clicking sound of her heels before he saw her gorgeous stilettos walking around his head. He looked up from his prone position and was welcomed by the sight of mile-long toned legs. For some reason, being beaten down didn't feel so painful anymore.

"Like what you see?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Uhuh…" he nodded weakly, feeling something warm and wet dripping down from his nostrils. He was sure he was in heaven now.

"Good. Because that will be the last wonderful thing you'll see if you don't get up!" Then her fist came down upon him.

Daisuke yelped, rolling to the side as the fist buried itself on the concrete floor. "Holy shit!" he yelled. There was small crater where his head was supposed to be if he hadn't moved.

Daisuke rolled away and up before the woman had anymore ideas.

"How the hell did you do that?"

Kyara smirked, "Second thing you should learn about ninja: chakra."

"What's chakra?" he asked.

Kyara blinked, straightening up. This was an interesting change in behavior.

Daisuke stood up straighter as well, taking a step back from her as she took one step forward.

"Chakra is the energy of every animate and some inanimate things. It is the life force that binds all things together in this world and ninjas can manipulate that energy to their will. As demonstrated to you by yours truly," she curtsied gracefully, "With chakra, you can break things a hundred times tougher than your skin. You can walk up walls without falling. You can even walk on surfaces as delicate as water and thin air."

"Really? You did all of…_that_," he pointed at the hole she created, "with chakra?" He was sidestepping now. Kyara continued her slow prowl towards him. She was like a slick tiger cornering her pray.

"Pretty much everything and anything impossible that you can imagine, darling." Kyara proclaimed, extending her hands out in the air as if she wanted to show the very idea it, "you can do by using chakra."

"… So what if I say… I believe you," he was being too cautious in his words.

"Oh, you already believe me," she sounded as sure as the sky is blue, "I can see it in you. It even surprises me that you can be so accepting. Other people would have gone mad by now."

"Don't be so sure," Daisuke chuckled, a bit scornful, "I'm still thinking I could be asleep in bed right now."

"It could be a sweet dream… but no. This is the real deal."

"Then if it is, what's in it for you? What are your reasons for kidnapping my family and telling me all this?"

Kyara tilted her lovely head to the side with firm dead-serious eyes. "It's you. I have a great need for you, Daisuke Shinozuka."

"If this is what I think your trying to imply when you say you have 'a great need for me'," Daisuke gulped, blushing pink, "I-I would have to say no now...while I still can."

Kyara was struck confused for a moment. "Wha-No! That's not... Will you get your mind out of the gutter!"

The boy was flushed almost red now. "O-Oh, I thought with all the-you know-and with the flirting..." He was making some round stroking gestures in the air with one hand while the other scratched behind his head.

"I wasn't talking about that," Kyara stomped her foot, "when you're old enough, maybe... but that definitely besides the point here!"

"Sorry..."

"Geez, I was like totally internalized. Now everything totally off..." Kyara placed her fingers on either side of her temples, sighing dramatically. The boy wasn't so naive after all.

"Anyways..." she placed back her serious smirk, flipping her long hair over her shoulder, "I was going to tell you that you are a very special person, Daisuke. You haven't realized it yourself-or maybe you have but had never really accepted it. You are a very very special person and I could use a guy like you in my team."

"A team for what?"

"Interested? Ah, yes! You like sports, right? You're a team player. Well, a little more than a year from now the world is going to hold the meanest and baddest competition you will ever see... the underworld calls it 'Shadow Tournament' and I want you to join." She added her sweetest smile yet, a hand on her hip.

The boy gave him an incredelous look. His eyes as they shifted from hers to his two sisters at the corner. "What is this competition about? And why me? Why kidnap my family just to ask this?" he asked very calmly. The woman was nuts or he was for even listening.

The strange pressure suddenly dropped on his shoulders again and this was heavier than before. It was a dangerous aura that was trying to wrap around him like a metal-plated blanket, weighing his own heart down as he stared at Kyara's gleaming golden eyes.

"Tell me, Daisuke-kun," she uttered his name as if it was an unmentionably sweet secret, "have you ever experience something that you can't quite put your finger on? Something that you repeat in your head... rewind and fast-forward it... play by play... and you still can't put an explanation to it even if you die trying?"

Daisuke's eyes remained glued to hers. He was suddenly feeling too aware of Kyara. Like everything else around him was dimming out and the only thing he could see clearly and hear clearly is the woman in front of him.

_'She's doing this... this is not natural.'_

Kyara's smile only widened. "I think you understand what I'm talking about."

Daisuke shook his head, negative. "What are you talking about? You don't know me."

"No. No I don't," Kyara was honest, "but I don't have to know you to understand you."

Daisuke shook his head. What is she talking about now?

"Tell me: do you always say to yourself-no, make yourself believe you're just like every other young man in this world? You're totally normal, right? You have your own dreams and ambitions. You have your own place in the world and you feel contented with it. Hey, you're young and you got a lot ahead of you now. All you need to be worried about is just school, home and acne, right?"

Daisuke took a step back as Kyara stepped forward. "It's a lie," she continued, "and you know it."

"Where are you getting at with this?" the boy asked slowly, afraid now of the answer. The heaviness he felt on his body grew by a fraction. The oppressive air she was giving out was almost unbearable.

* * *

**Flashback**

Yami had told him his part was simple and he would get 3 percent of the money. He was just going to be the look out and give the signal when the target came past him. The easiest job since he was easily the youngest and the newest in the group. They wouldn't let him do a bigger job than that or he might just ruin everything.

He wasjust a ten-year-old anyway. They won't even explain to him how they will get the money and Daisuke new better to press Yami. The older boy was fickle and quick-tempered that way.

So as long as Daisuke get money, he hadn't really gave it much thought. Suki needed the medicine and as the older brother, he needed to take care of her. Emi was already working so hard but the odd jobs that she go to weren't enough.

Under careful instructions, Daisuke stayed outside a the bookshop and played with his soccer ball while staying alert for the target. A quarter of an hour and he saw him. He already memorized the exact face the handsome blonde man from the simple snapshot Yami gave him. Yami also told him to give the approproite signal if he saw the man carrying any bag.

A black briefcase. Daisuke gave the sign-dribbling his soccer ball like it was a basket ball.

He saw Yami move in from across the street looking like a young lanky office worker whering a crisp white shirt, black slacks and tie. He even brushed his hair back. Daisuke wouldn't have recognized him if it weren't for his usually toothy grin. He crossed the road in a rush, looking as much like any pencil-pusher who was running late for work.

And Yami had the exact same black briefcase on his hand that the target had.

Daisuke understood then and could almost see what was going to happen. Yami was infamous in town as the quickest slickest hand and he was going to switch the cases in broad daylight and the target won't even know the difference.

Daisuke felt his hear race with excitement. Any moment and Yami will perform one of his miracles and Daisuke will be able to see everything from where he stood.

Yami and the target were only a few meters apart. Yami was going to meet the taller blonde man before he crosses the street, most likely bump into him and make it look like an accident. Everything should run smoothly.

It should have if it were not for sudden screams.

Daisuke snapped his attention to where the panic was. He saw heavy metal bars falling from the sky... and Yami was exactly under them.

In the next heartbeat, Daisuke left his ball and ran the distance from where he stood to where Yami was standing frozen. He grabbed the extremely tall boy by the front of his shirt and pulled him aside before a bar landed on the exact same spot he was standing. Yami staggered but Daisuke did not allow him to fall over him. The shorter boy pushed him back to avoid another pull that already landed and was falling over their head. Split second later, Daisuke hurled the older boy over his shoulder and with the exact momentum rolled on the ground to avoid the last bar.

Daisuke kept rolling and rolling. He saw ground and then sky and then the hard concrete again. He didn't remember anything else after that. He blacked out and the next time he woke up in the hospital with very minor injuries.

Daisuke was told that he was just one of the lucky people who survived the accident. Four people died because the cable wires used to crane up those metal bars were rusted and weak. The construction company, who were building a 13-story complex where the accident happened, paid for his hospital bills and Yami was never heard of ever since then.

* * *

**Kyara and Daisuke**

"I can see it in your eyes. You were thinking of those unexplainable events. It has happened a lot... hasn't it?"

This time, he wasn't feeling the oppressive embrace from the woman but the heaviness of his own heart and mind. He could feel his throat closing up on him, compelling him to deny what she had said and yet his body did not seem to want to react to that compulsion.

"It's true, isn't it?" Kyara added, striking a cord in Daisuke.

_'How does this woman know? Does she go around stalking people for fun?'_

"Okay, so maybe strange things have been happening to me but that doesn't mean anything," he argued.

"It tells a lot actually."

Daisuke had not noticed he was trembling all over. He was just standing there while deep inside he was spiraling down the drain of uncertainty and disorder.

Daisuke took another step back. "So what are you telling me? That I'm like you?"

"Yes..." Kyara gasped with a relieved smile, "That's right. You, Daisuke Shinozuka, were born shinobi."

"You lie!" but was not from Daisuke.

Kyara had had not the time to register who the speaker was. Her body reacted first, as compelled by her years of training, to defend herself from the incoming assault from behind. Daisuke watched as the lady Kyara twisted her body around to block the attack brought by a chair about to be slammed on top of her head.

"Emi..." he gasped. His oldest sister, who he had thought still out cold, had somehow sneaked up behind them and was about to hit Kyara with an old heavy chair. He felt the quick pain of his heart to his throat followed by the sudden distortion of his vision. Just like the experience earlier that afternoon, like a glass was held over his left eye but only to realize that his left eye can see much clearer than his right.

Time seemed to slow down. Closing his right eye, he took in the world through a new sight. The ground hummed almost to life, the air felt like it was breathing on its own and the two women in front of him were like bonfires of blue light in a quiet eerie night. Emi's inner fire was blazing, uncontrolled and undiluted, while Kyara-san's were concentrated and refined. He could discern somehow that Kyara's arms were laden with that that blue fire, her left brought up in defense while her right... her right hand was closed in a tight fist, throbbing with that blue fire aimed for Emi. He just knew Emi was going to be hurt.

"Emi!" He heard himself scream and then he was moving.

Daisuke crossed the room in less than a second and grabbed Kyara's fist. "I will not let you hurt my sister!" he growled, one eye glowing bloody red.

"I knew it... " Kyara gasped, so focused on Daisuke's eye as if suddenly mesmerized by it. She didn't even realize his grip was almost breaking her wrist until she felt the cracking pain. She lashed a high kick to his head but the boy blocked her leg and then pinned it under his arm to his side.

_'This is a little kinky,'_ she thought to herself with the awkward open position that she found herself with.

"I thought you said you didn't fight women?" Kyara asked, aiming another lash to his face with her free hand.

Daisuke threw her down before her left fist connected with his head. Kyara gave out a sharp cry as she was hurled unceremoniously to the other end, crashing into a desk and smashing the plastic into peices.

"If you hurt my family... I'll make an acception," the boy answered, a little winded. His hands were trembling madly. He felt whoozy in the head and yet his body felt alive and burning. What did he just do? He could have killed the woman. What was happening to him?

The woman only grinned from her prone position. "Now that's more like it," she chuckled before her body collapsed into a pile of white sand.

Daisuke blinked once and the kunoichi was right in from of him, smiling wickedly. "You have really pretty eye," she said though she was scrutinizing his left eye, "Do you even know how to use it?"

Kyara pulled back and tried to slam and open palm to the boy's face but Daisuke was quick to dodge. "Let's put it to the test then!"

The woman was cackling sweetly as she bombarded the boy with series of quick punches and kicks. Daisuke knew only to dodge and parry the heavy blows. Each simultaneous strike felt like he was being attacked with metal bats. He could feel his bones cracking under the assault.

"Stop... stop it!" he tried to say but he could hardly even breathe.

"Come on! Show me what you got!" Kyara was mad.

The woman had managed to feign a kick, which he instinctively attempted to block, but she got a hold of his wrist instead. Kyara twisted the boys right arm behind him, pushed him down to kneel and pulled a fist full of his black hair.

"Or do I have to hurt them for you to step up, hm?" she whispered to his ear.

Daisuke felt his blood ran cold as he was forced to look on his worst fear. Emi and Suki was right in front of him. The were standing together against the wall. They were not bound up in ropes anymore... but they were pinned to the wall by blades on their chests.

Daisuke was frozen under her hands. Kyara was disappointed. She was half expecting the boy to notice the illusion after the initial shock. But she might have placed too much credit on him. After all, this might better be his first real encounter with a certified shinobi.

He was silent and pale. He never took his eyes off of the image of his sisters dead. Kyara loosed her hold on him and the boy simply fell limp to the floor. He was trembling all over and muttering words now that she could not hear.

"I don't think this is going to work after all..." she muttered, turning away. She delibrated held back her steps and counted the slow seconds for the boy to react.

"Why...?" the boy's voice was barely a whisper.

Kyara stopped, turning an eye back to the boy. He was moving to stand up, face still ashened and hand trembling. "I just killed the two most important people in you life because you were too slow, too weak to protect them." Her voice was mirthless.

"No. That's not..."

"Well, you were taking too long, honey. And I'm a very impatient woman. But I guess it's next to impossible getting anything out of you. You're just-"

"That's not what I meant," Daisuke snapped, face now hidden beneath his messy hair. "I get it. I admit... I'm not exactly normal. I admit there had been things that only make sense to me now... if everything you've told me was real. But what I can't forgive... What I would honestly kill you for-ninja or not-is hurting my family. I would damn my soul to hell and kill anyone...

The boy's left eye was spinning madly. "Is this what you want to show me, Kyara-san? A preview of what will happen if I turn you down?"

Kyara gave away a small satisfied smirk as she turned her heels back to face the boy.

"You can see it then?"

"See what?" His voice was even and cold. "See that my sisters are dead in front of me? But my left eye is telling me that's there's...nothing there?"

_'Jackpot!'_ She dropped the genjutsu. "That's right," she nodded, "What you saw was an illusion, a ninja technique called genjutsu. It wasn't real."

"So much has happened tonight. I don't think I can believe anything anymore." He ran a hand down his face.

"I apologize. I was simply trying to gauge you. I guess I got carried away and I have no intention of harming your family Daiske. I promise."

"But wh-"

"That's enough." it was Emi. She was unharmed. Relief washed over Daisuke.

He had really thought his sisters were dead in front of him. For a second he thought his entire world had crumbled under his feet. He was really ready to murder Kyara but what gave the illusion away was the lack of blood. Logic immediatedly snapped Daisuke out of it added with his strange eye that allowed him to see a new light of things.

"Emi! You're all right..." He made his way to his sister and embraced her. She did not respond to the gesture though and Daisuke noticed she was shaking a bit.

"Daisuke..." Emi whispered, "Whatever crap this woman told you. They're all lies. Don't you dare believe her."

Kyara simply shrugged, crossing her arms under her bountiful breast. "I'm not the one lying here," she said, "You knew all along, didn't you? You wouldn't be this upset if you hadn't got a clue."

"You stay away from us," Emi hissed.

"It's not up to you to decide," Kyara replied, "Daisuke knows that."

* * *

_To be continued..._


	5. Kensei I

**Shadow Tournament**

_by: Bakunawa_

Kensei I

* * *

**Non-descriptive Apartment, Green Peas**  
**Hotaru and Kyara**

"So how long are you going to make us wait in this forsaken town?" the nine-year-old's tone was very casual. A bowl of fried rice half-way finished on her hands.

The glorious princess in all her morning glory-eskewed pajamas, bedraggled hair that was just all over the place and a snotty nose-gave her partner a one-shoulder shrug.

"We can't wait for Shinozuka to make up his mind forever. May I remind you that we only have about a year before the tournament official starts," Hotaru emphasized, "Teaching the boy will take to much time that we already don't have."

"A year is all it takes," Kyara dismissed the topic with a wave of her spoon. "Let's just talk about this guy you were talking about the other day. What'ya call him again? Mirmo-Marko Kenny-something?"

"Miroku Kensei."

"Yeah... What about him?"

"You clearly weren't listening when I mentioned him."

"Yeah, yeah. Obviously, I was a bit busy at that moment. You can't blame me. The guy was hot!"

"He was also with his three-year-old child at the produce section."

"And I was with you. And he was already divorced. Honestly, I didn't know a man with his kid could so... attractive." Kyara had a dream look as she took another bite of her own breakfast.

Hotaru rolled her eyes royally. The woman was insufferable.

"Anyway, you were talking about Mirumo?"

"Miroku."

"Right."

Hotaru rolled her eyes again as Kyara stared at her with a dumb expression. The little kunoichi then proceeded to retell the night she met one Miroku Kensei. It was the same night Kyara decided to bait Daisuke Shinozuka into joining the tournament.

* * *

**Flashback**

Hotaru took herself off from her suspension on top of an electric pole. She was using the same invisibility jutsu as the older kunoichi. Nobody was paying her any attention as she tiptoed her way along the cable wires, arms stretched out the sides for balance. She made her way until she came to the last pole nearest the rundown non-descriptive building Kyara and Daisuke had disappear in. Before she could leap over the rooftop, however, another presence popped his way out of nowhere.

And he literally popped out, smoke and everything included. The man was of inconspicuous age, wearing a black hoodie and a pair of torn blue jeans. He was also carrying a tied canvas across his back. Hotaru immediately recognized the distinct shape of swords wrapped underneath the material.

Hotaru's first thought was… 'jackpot'.

Hotaru carefully and silently landed on the concrete rooftop. She might be eager to meet this new comer-she was definitely sure he was a ninja-but being a trained ninja herself, she treaded with caution.

Hotaru eyed the young man carefully, especially the stiff canvas straped to his back. She also noticed several weapons, whether concealed and visible, on his person. It would seem this person was fond of trench knives.

The young man shifted on his feet, looking now at her general direction. Hotaru stepped back, surprised. His eyes were unfocused due to the genjutsu but, for some reason that was quite impossible, he seemed to be trying to fight the spell Hotaru made.

Hotaru watched as the young man brought a hand up with the tiger seal. "Kai!" he uttered.

The genjutsu was dispelled, leaving the girl now exposed. Hotaru remained where she was. She couldn't move even if she wanted to. It would seem that stepping on the rooftop was a mistake.

"That was a class A genjutsu there, lil'miss," the hooded ninja said, "for years I've been around and I ain't seen anybody as lil' as you pull somethin' like that level... unless you ain't what you seem to be." He pulled out a trench knife from his right hip, holding it out reversely.

Hotaru's right hand moved on it's own accord, following the exact motion of pulling out an imaginary blade from her right side and holding it out in front of her. "Who are you?" Hotaru asked, sounding very composed.

"I'd be asking you that too. You're the one sneakin' behind me."

"Hotaru."

"Now that's cute. So, why's a baby bug doin' here in the middle of the night?"

"Why would you want to know?"

Hotaru saw his face smirk, a fang was visible under his lips. "Ain't you a smart lil'bug." He shifted his wieght on to his right leg, now twirling the knife like a baton.

Hotaru's body copied the exact movements. "I don't like you calling me an insect," she scoffed, feeling more irritated that she did not have control over her body save for her face and voice than the harmless nickname.

"Whatever," he shrugged to which Hotaru followed. "I got the trench here and you're the one stuck under my technique. Conclusion: I call the shots. Now answer the question like a good lil'girl. What are you doin' here?"

"I was following a colleague of mine inside when you suddenly appeared." Hotaru answered, face still neutral.

"Colleague, huh? Ain't that a big word for you. And what are you-six?"

"Nine."

"And feeling all grown up." The man resheathed his knife and again Hotaru's body followed. It was the most unnerving sensation she had ever felt. The feeling of total helplessness. Of your body so out of your control. She hated it.

"Look lil'bug, I'd have to be goin' now. I need to be someplace and i'm already runnin' late. So stay put... not that you'd be goin' anywhere anyway," he corrected himself with a wide toothy grin.

"I'd be sayin' see ya 'round," he gave a two-fingered salute, "but we ain't be seein' each other."

And he disappeared in a puff.

Hotaru almost fell back with the sudden regain of her motor skills. Straightening her self up and taking a moment until the trembling under her bones subsided, she left as well.

* * *

**Present**  
**Hotaru and Kyara**

"Later, I found his name from the Archive's database,"Hotaru continued, "Miroku Kensei of the Nara Clan."

"A Nara? Sweet!" Kyara exclaimed as she fixed her hair with floral-scented oils while Hotaru lounged on her unmade bed. She was now casually dressed-sheer white tank that barely hid her black undergarment, demin jeans and heeled boots. "They got the most amazing shadow techniques. You can't get any more ninja than a Nara... so have you found where he is right now?"

"Naturally," Hotaru answered.

"Sooo..." Kyara swang around to face the other girl, "When do we meet him?"

"Already had. Unlike you, I don't waste time being idle."

"When? Why didn't you tell me?" The older woman stood up.

"I tried," the younger one blinked at her, "But you were too busy eyeing Mr. Tachibana's ass to properly hear."

A pause before an "... oh."

Hotaru wanted to slap herself but didn't bother. She was pretty much used to the Kyara's annoying behavior. Sometimes she wasn't so sure if the woman was just playing it dumb or she was innately idiotic to begin with.

"I located him just outside the border of town, south from here," Hotaru continued, "He was camping alone..."

* * *

**Flashback**

She remained unmoving, hands held up in a sign of resignation. Surrounding her were hundreds of metal blades stuck to the earth, several of them had explosives wrapped around the handles. She had avoided each and every on of the kunai and senbon needles that rained down on her with relative ease, but if she accidentally tripped on one, she was dead.

At least, he wasn't using that abominable shadow-body-controlling technique of his. She would rather face an explosive death than being rendered helpless without control.

"Miroku Kensei," she called out, voice clear in the late afternoon, "... I just want to talk."

A moment later, a young man emerged from the bushes meters away from her. It was the same young man she met at the rooftop, only now he did not have his hoodie on.

Hotaru can discern his features now. He was of average build with a rowdy face, spiky blue hair and peircing cold blue eyes. Judging by his appearance, he was still a teenager and perhaps a little older than the Shinozuka boy.

"Lil' bug? How did'ya know my name and where I am?" he asked with suspicion dancing behind his eyes as he moved closer, easily making his way through his own trap.

"I'm a sensor," the girl shrugged, as if it was all the answer needed.

"Really? Shouldn't have underestimated you then," he said, tightening his grip on two unsheathed katanas. "What do you want?" he asked with a scowl.

"Like I said, I just wanted to talk. And I'm unarmed. See?" Hotaru slowly spun around to show she was not carrying anything. She was wearing a blue denim jumper, a white collared shirt and red trainers. Her red scarf wrapped securely around her neck, still covering the lower part of her face.

The boy snorted, "I know you're shinobi, lil' bug. Just because you ain't carryin' any visible weapons, doesn't mean you're defenseless. I've been around longer in this business than you."

At that moment, Hotaru felt a shift in chakra in the shinobi. Her eyes fell to her feet. Tendrils of shadows were licking at her ankles. She felt the familiar cold sensation of immobility creep through her spine. "Your suspicions are understandable," she tried stalling.

Miroku snorted again, hefting one of his katanas over his shoulder as he assumed a relaxed position. "There you go again with the big words. Are you really as old as you say you are? You sound like an old uptight spinster woman."

Hotaru scowled, though she was more intrigued with this display of his shadow techniques. He was showing a different kind than one he performed the other night. This one was only rooting her to her spot rather than take control of her entire motor abilities.

"Can we find a more suitable place than this?" Hotaru asked calmly, "I just want to offer a proposition."

"We can talk here, if you don't mind. I'm still not trustin' a single thing about you."

Hotaru suppressed the urged to sigh. "Alright," she acquised, "What do you know about the Shadow Tournament?"

Miroku blinked once and then rolled his eyes to the skies. "Not you too!" he exclaimed. "You're like the third person to ask me that. And let me give you the exact same answer I told the other two. It's spelled N-O!"

She was the third to ask him? If that is the case, then this Miroku Kensei was as highly skilled as his entire dossier had described of him. But the real wonder was why he turned them all down.

"Then what would it take to convince you to join?" Hotaru asked, carefully playing with her words. Everybody needs something. She would just have to bargain with him.

"Are you deaf or somethin'?" Miroku scowled, "I clearly said I ain't interested. Offer me money? Already got a load. Offer me fame? I'd rather stick to the dark. If a lot of people knew about me, it probably be bad for business."

Oh, yes. Miroku Kensei was a hunter and a wanderer. People knowing about him would only make it harder for him 'run his business' incognito.

"Then let me make you a deal."

"Oh, like that trick hasn't been used before."

"No, tricks. Just a duel. A shinobi duel."

Miroku snorted again. "You? Challenge me? Ain't intendin' to be cocky but you may know some high-level genjutsu, and I have to admit the other one was pretty good, I don't think we're an even match." He gave Hotaru twice over look, indicating her very much shorter stature.

Hotaru shook her head. "Not me. But I have someone in mind who should be up to the task. You win, we've never met. You get to be on your merry way and I'll find another. You lose, you would have to join the tournament with us. Simple."

The young man lifted his left eyebrow and stared at her for a long moment, icy blue eyes digging into her ruby ones in a very haughty way.

"Come on," Hotaru pushed a little further, "Judging by you file, you can be ranked somewhere between a high chuunin to jounin level. But I think the Archive is a little outdated. You might be kage level for all I know."

The blue-haired ninja gave a "Tsk." What was the lil'bug trying to do? Tickle his ego with praises. She was giving him surprises after surprises that he would not have expected from a nine-year-old.

"Or the files could be an exaggeration," Hotaru shrugged her shoulders, "Who knows." What was the lil'bug playing at? Didn't she know who he was? He was infamously The Hound from Hell. A wandering assasin for hire. He could easily snap her thin neck without her noticing.

"It's a win-win situation, if you try to think about," the little kunoichi added, "I don't even think it would damage your reputation by joining the game. In fact, I think it would boost it up."

"It's a tournament. It's bound to be public," he said, shaking his head, "and I don't like crowded places."

Hotaru shrugged again, "Then we'll place you under an anonymous identity. We're ninjas. It's what we do."

"It ain't that simple, lil'bug. People in-charge of the games are ninjas too. They're gonna take as much precaution as possible."

"I assure you, one of my benefactors can handle that." Hotaru smirked underneath her red scarf.

Miroku sighed then swang his swords fancily before resheathing them on his back. "Alright," he said, giving her a calculating stare, "I'll only agree to this 'cause you peak my interest, lil'bug. And because I hadn't have a decent work out in like forever."

* * *

**Present**  
**In a downtown coffee shop, Green Peas**  
**Hotaru and Kyara**

Kyara gave a low long whistle, "You never seize to amaze me, Hotaru-chan."

"You're appreciation is very much recognized," Hotaru smiled contentedly as she took another spoonful of her strawberry sundae.

The left side of Kyara's face was slowly developing a tick. As much as she really liked the younger kunoichi, Hotaru can sometimes be a snobby little thing whenever she wanted to and it totally irked Kyara.

"But I have a feeling I know who you're going to pit against the Nara boy," Kyara chuckled without mirth.

"Who else is there." Another spoonful of the sweet delight.

"No."

"I'd thought you would say that."

"Answer is still no."

"I also know you're just saying that for the sake of protesting. You don't really have a choice on the matter."

Kyara silently seethed, glaring deathly daggers into the younger girls forehead as she took a careful sip of her jasmine tea. The little snot was making her do all the dirty manual work! Since when did little Hotaru grew to be such devious little devil. _'I guess I might have been the hand to blame. Who else could she have picked it all up?'_

Not ready to a outmatched by a kunoichi barely half her age, a brilliant idea strucked Kyara. Slowly, a small smile formed on her lips. Who said she would have to go against this Miroku Kensei character?

"When did you say the duel was going to happen?" Kyara asked softly, putting up a scowling face as if she already accepted her fate.

"Five days since yesterday at the very same spot he took up the challenge. That gives you three more days."

"And you're just telling me this now?"

"I had every intention of informing you but yet again I blame you and your inability to pay attention without being detracted by the next available male species in the vicinity, so I changed my mind. I wasn't going to tell you 'til the day before the appointed date but since you already asked... " Hotaru gave her a one-shoulder shrug.

"Alright," Kyara took one last gulp of her tea and left the bills on the table. The wad of cash was enough to cover both her tea and Hotaru's sundae and a few more extras if the little one decided to have more sundaes. "See you in three days," Kyara bid her goodbye with a casual wave of her hand, sauntering out of the cafe and disappearing into the crowd.

Hotaru carefully eyed the older kunoichi's back leaving the shop until she was out of sight. "See you," she muttered under her breath before scooping up the last strawberry from the bottom of her glass.

* * *

_To be continued..._


	6. Kensei II

**Shadow Tournament**

by: _Bakunawa_

Kensei II

* * *

**Green Peas Memorial Park**  
**Daisuke**

He knew he was brooding. He did not have to hear it from his friends to know that dark clouds have been hanging over his head for days now.

Sure, he went about his normal routine-home, school work, soccer practice. But ever since that fateful night, he had never felt normal. Who would for that matter anyway.

Emi was ignoring him more than the usual and Suki was trying her darnest to bring everything back to the way they were though she was more confused of what transpired three days ago than any of them. She was the only one unconscious throughout the whole ordeal and neither of her siblings would give her full details of the incident.

Daisuke would give her another day or two before she explodes and started demanding answers with her fist. Suki may be the least violent out of the three Shinozukas but she also has the meanest right hook.

Emi, on the other hand... she was so paranoid that she was so close to locking Daisuke and Suki at home, hog-tied and gagged. The day after the incident with Kyara-san, she had started to the most insane things. She started walking them to and from school even though she still had her shift around those hours. She was bringing them lunches they did not need and even began calling in almost every hour just to check up if they're still where they're supposed to be.

Daisuke had never been so angry with his eldest before. Daisuke knew Emi knew more than what she let on but the cankerous elder sister refuse to speak about it. She told him that she would rather have Daisuke and Suki locked up to keep them away than have them dead. He never got anything straight out of her since that night and he stopped asking why lest another epic fight happens between them.

Daisuke sighed and rubbed his eyes as he slumped further on the metal bench. School had ended hours ago but he had not felt like going back home and he had completely shut of his phone just to have some peace. Emi might already be pulling her hair out by this time.

His thoughst drifted again to that other night and Kyara-san as he watched the orange sun sink further. She had said that it was up to him to decide if he wanted to learn more about himself. But she had also warned him that if he ever met with her again, it would be the last time and he would have to make his decision then. There would be no turning back.

Daisuke gave another sigh and closed his eyes.

He had already decided.

* * *

**Grand La Fou Hotel**  
**Hotaru and Miroku**

"For someone who claims to have done this longer than I, you sure are easy to find."

The soft whisper of a child behind him startled the blue-haired youth more than he would have liked. He almost amputated his own thumb!

"L-Lil' bug? Wha-how-what the eff are you doin' here?" Miroku Kensei stuttered, looking around the bustling kitchen for anyone looking their way.

"Just checking up on you," Hotaru answered with a casual shrugged.

Truth was she had been worried when she found his campsite empty. He even took down his death traps. Hotaru had thought of the worse-that Kensei had bailed out of the deal. She, fortunately, was able to track him in a not so nearby hotel in Green Peas downtown and that had been a relief.

"You are the freakiest lil' girl I ever met, you know that?" He muttered, getting back to the task at hand: peeling potatoes.

Hotaru shrugged again, "So I've been told..."

"Here, I thought I could just get away and all but I think I'm gettin' a bad habit of underestimatin' you."

"So you were planning of backing out of the duel?" Hotaru gave him a critical eye.

The shinobi shoock his head, "What do you take me for? I'm Miroku Kensei. I never back out of a challenge."

The blanched little girl's right eyebrow rose as she took note of how he declared his name. As if proclaiming himself was the very reason why he'd never think of turning tails.

"What are you really doin' here anyway?" Miroku asked, "Can't you see I'm on a job."

By 'job' he meant he was going to do something... only deadly shinobi's of his expertise would do. The glint on his blue eyes also told Hotaru that he would rather not elaborate. Whatever 'job' it was supposed to be, Hotaru really did not care even if it involved curiously menial tasks as peeling potatoes. She came here with another intention.

"I'll stay out of you way but I have one question though," Hotaru said.

"Shoot."

"Why did you leave the Nara clan?"

Miroku blinked at the sudden probing. "Where did'ya hear that?"

"Remember I told you that I read your profile? I ran a background check too."

"Great..." though is was anything but.

Hotaru continued, "It was vague-like everything else in the Archive. Your father was a Nara while your mother was from the Inuzuka clan. It was recorded that both your parents died when you were five and the Nara's took you in afterwards. But then you left the clan by age seven. You wrecked havoc before leaving the Nara estate and there was report that you stole a few very important scrolls too-"

"Oh yeah, I remembered that! The old motherfu-I mean, old bastards didn't see what was comin' to 'em."

"So are you going to tell me why?" Hotaru asked with her arms crossed.

Miroku could feel a huge sweat dropping behind his head. "When I agreed to that deal I didn't say you could go start stalkin' me around and askin' personal questions."

"You didn't say I could not either," she replied with a dead set face.

"That's besides the point!" Miroku caught himself before he could talk any louder. He was on a job and the target was just meters away. Drawing too much attention on himself would ruin everything.

"Lil' bug," he hissed through gritted teeth, "People usually don't go askin' personal questions like that when they meet new people. It's like really rude. So don't be askin' no more and just go away."

"Let me ask another thing then..."

"Which part of what I said did you no-"

"Who killed your parents?"

A cord was struck in his heart. The blue-haired ninja was two seconds away from gutting the girl with the peeling knife. But he was not that kind of killer.

Finally, placing the knife down, he ushered-dragged, really-the little girl out of the kitchen through the backdoor. "Will you just go away?" he hissed, a deep frown etched on his forehead.

"For now, maybe," the little strange girl answered as she was lead outside to a back alley.

"If you ain't half my size and age, I'd already kick your ass for even mentionin' anythin' about my past! But I'm a good guy so consider this a warning. Next time, Lil' bug, I won't be so nice. I'll be seein' ya in three days."

Miroku slammed the door shut, locking it for good measures. It was futile to use ordinary door locks on ninjas but the young man was giving out a message to keep out of his business.

Hotaru got the message but she had always been known to be hardheaded.

"See you in three days," Hotaru repeated slowly.


End file.
